Here’s some questions I got about BTTI from the Street Team and my answers:

* How many people go to BTTI?

Island Gigs seem to consistently say around 400 each year. Some years have felt like less though. It’s definitely a more intimate event than most.

* Do you get to spend much time with the guys?

As much as you hope? No. It’s still a little crazy for that to be a reality. But you do have the opportunity to interact at various times. Is it guaranteed? No. It’s just an opportunity. Can you get a selfie? Sure, it’s possible. The only real certainty is the photo opportunity with the guys though. Do you get to talk? Sometimes, yes. But sometimes it’s just hi. What you get is a nice photo with all three brothers. Everything else can be considered a bonus.

* What is the food and entertainment like?

I’m going to limit this answer to BTTI 2018.

Food: The buffet wasn’t great. The restaurants were. Go to the restaurants instead if you can. Room Service was best for breakfast or lunch. Expect long waits and cold food if you order it for dinner or late night though.

Entertainment: I assume other than Hanson? Hanson is always good, even when they’re not 😂 Resort staff were talented enough to entertain us between Hanson events and occasionally during as well. Excursions were cancelled due to the weather. You could rebook if you wanted but it meant missing Hanson events. No thanks. Hot tubs were where it was at mostly. Pools and Ocean were too cold most of the time, again due to the weather. I personally enjoyed standing back and watching others get their “hunt face” on when Hanson showed up to mingle the first night. That’s entertainment right there. But each to their own on that one.

* Was the new resort better?

In a word: No. It was certainly very pretty and did have so much potential to be amazing. It just fell flat in the service and food department, and they didn’t seem well equipped to handle the events requirements. So that was disappointing. Shout out goes to Island Gigs and Hanson for making up for that, despite the curve ball with the weather. Overall it was a good event still, but no, the resort was not better.

* Was The Level worth it?

I’m going to say it was well worth every cent I paid. My main criticism is with the service. That was not what it should have been, even before everyone arrived. So that aside…

The free Room Service alone almost paid for the room itself and became a popular breakfast or lunch option. The other side of the resort had to pay $5 for this service. There were also snacks and chocolates delivered each day, which was a nice unexpected surprise. Then we also had the Golden Sands Restaurant as another option for Breakfast and Lunch. Which was also a popular choice over the main buffet on the other side. If that wasn’t enough there was also The Level Lounge, were you could get snacks and drinks throughout the day. That was a nice cool and often quiet spot to getaway to if you wanted a change of scenery with a good view. It also had computers should that be a thing you wanted to use.

The weather wasn’t great, so we spent a lot more time in the room than you normally would. As two girls to a room it was nice to have a second bathroom and a separate lounge/dining area as another available change of scenery. We were given the option to make the couch into another bed, so we could have had two separate rooms if we really wanted to as well. Also, coming back to the room and putting on the robe and slippers when it was a little cold, and curling up on the bed watching TV was nice when our other entertainment options were limited.

We had a separate pool, Hot Tub and beach. Space was never a problem. There was always a deck chair or a cabana available. And it was quiet. There were moments when it was so nice to be able to get away from the more crowded and noisey main resort. It made sleeping wonderful.

The stage was set up on The Level side, so if nothing I’ve mentioned yet seems worth it, this alone made the room almost pay for itself also. Some rooms had a view of the stage. Ours walked straight on to the beach. It meant we could pop back to the room for the bathroom (where everyone else had to go, I have no idea) or whatever mid show if we needed to and still hear everything, and not be gone for very long. It wasn’t entirely unusual to see Hanson on this side of the resort in passing at other times either.

If you wanted to go the main area in the main resort it wasn’t very far. Overall it was a very central location for everything. I heard that wasn’t the case for rooms at the far end of the main resort.

There’s probably other perks to list. But that pretty much sums up most of what I got out of it. With the bad weather, it proved a very good investment. That’s the bottom line on that.

* Were you worried about the crime problem?

No. It was my fourth BTTI. I learned on the first trip that the resorts themselves are fairly safe little bubbles. Outside the resort, you should be very careful though. Stick with reputable guides and remember it’s technically still a third world country. Things aren’t like they are back home. We didn’t leave the resort this year in the end, so there was no concern.

I’m slowly working on a series of blog posts about Back to the Island since I get asked so many questions about it, please bear with me though as I’m quite busy at work currently, so key word is probably slowly! But I thought it would be easier to post blogs so that everyone can have access to the answers. Some may go up faster than others, depending on how quickly I can finish them.

If you have any specific questions you would like answered or topics you would like me to cover. Please don’t hesitate to ask!